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My earliest memories are from around 1992. I remember having breakfast at Lower Sabie, when the old restaurant and Cafeteria were still there near that little ramp and to the left of the Original 'Onder-sabie/Lower Sabie sign'. You used to have to walk under all those weaver nests and the sounds were fantastic .

In any case after having breakfast we went down to the rolling lawns in the older section of the camp and witnessed a whole pride of lions chasing a waterbuck into the little bit of water that was present near the low water bridge (this was around the time of the big drought in the early 90's and there was literally just a 'pan' of water left) The waterbuck was subsequently chased out of the water by a hippo and the lions got it!

I was around 5 years old at the time and remember writing about the incident in the old Lower sabie sightings book which was situated in a cubicle of some sorts... looked like a voting booth Had to stand on a wooden box to reach the book but was very excited to be the first one to write down the sighting !

I still enjoy writing in the various camps sighting books and the same thrill remains. I am a little surprised that some camps do not have sightings books anymore, lots of boards but no retention of past sightings and descriptions which is always nice to read. Skukuza still has a good one and have found some of our previous scribblings in the book which always brings back memories!!

Enjoy. Great thread

very nice thread indeed!


in 1993 we visited our grandmother in Durban for the first time - well first time for me (except as a baby)...

we spent 3 days in the KNP right at the beginning - and i was hooked!

i didn`t expect anything, had no idea about the park and absolutely loved it right from the start!


when my dad needed a short break from driving i immediately started nagging to get out on the roads again...


after leaving the park i cried so much (even my older brother was sad) that we booked another 2 nights in hluhluwe during our 3 weeks stay.


since then i try to come back to the bush (especially KNP) as often as possible

i was 11 by the way and hardly ever cried...

but that 1. KNP-experience was just too good


as we came back home I begged to return ASAP and we did 2 years later (adding Etosha to KNP)

Great memories everyone!! it really is great to hear other peoples experiences and often see how similar my own are, we all have the kruger bug

Hey billyf, remember in the 50s you could ride around the south all day and not see an ele. I have been to Kruger 20 times and never missed on lions, but it took us 3 or 4 visits to see eles!

Hallo BB

Why was there so little ellies in those days?

I always remember the time my grandmother passed away and only me, my dad, my sister and grandfather went to BnB. Mum could not go with cause she had to work. My grandfather was in a wheel chair and he really enjoyed the Kruger... I remember he was always sad after grandma passed away and that week he was another person. It made him feel good and it made him happy and it made my father happy too. It was as if they connected in a special way again...

My grandparents lived in Swartruggens near Groot Marico. They drove at least once a month to the Kruger, so this was a gift to him from mom and dad, sadly it was his last visit, but one very special one. Every night he sat with me and my sister recalling what we did during our day and what animals we saw.

When I think of the Kruger I remember holidays with ouma and oupa. This was 24 years ago.

I still see the food my father made. Bullybeef and mixed veggies and rice. I hated it... but never told him My father took such good care of us all now that I think about it, something I thought only mum was able to do... I have to tell him that...

Being woken in the dark, early hours of morning by mom, stumbling off in my pj’s with a coffee mug, up to the big black kettle for some boiling water.
Also getting back to camp in the late afternoon and watching the parkguy bring over a huge shovel or two, full of coals for the evening braai.
These guys I, even as a child, admired and held in high esteem for their friendliness dedication and travelling to the camp on a bicycle at an unholy hour to make fire in the kettle for us. How awesome that was.

Hi Mathews,

I think there were so few eles in the 50s because of the hunting legacy. They now have no natural enemies so they have bred so rapidly.There were some large herds around Letaba and further north in those days though.

Great thread!

Altough I'm not grey yet, I'll make an attempt...
My earliest memory of Kruger isn't a very nice one. I remember lying in the boot of out Jetta back in 1995, thinking this place is soo hot (no aircon), there are no animals (other than lion were not regarded as cool) and my dad loved driving for hours.

So for me it was a boring, hot and empty place. Years later (2000) I went back there on holiday, as I stayed overseas. I had a trip of a lifetime, and since then I just kept coming back, once a year, twice a year and lately even 3 times a year

My love for the bush wasn't created by staying in Kruger, but by visiting a private gamefarm where my uncle used to go. We (not even 10 years old) used to stand on the back of the willie's jeep, shooting warthogs, impala's, guineafowls and baboons with our ketty's. When I got older, I realised without a ketty is just as much fun

Today I'm grateful I'm a nature and Kruger fanatic

Hi BB

Thanks for the info!

I remember clearly , very early 1960's , the urinal was too high for me to step onto , now having spent more than 400 nights there , I avoid the camps where there are urinals , they are too busy for my liking .

Great Thread Oddesy!

It is awesome to hear all these old tales of the park!

I love this thread! Here's a more recent story:

It was in June of this year. I went over to SA to visit and my brother, now 24, decided it would be great if we went to the gamefarm in Timbavati, a Private Game reserve part of the Kruger, which his family (married to) owns. What a great idea I thought??? After a long day of buying everything we needed, we hit the road.

There was a group of us and on the night, we had a fair few drinks and around 2am I was very tired. Note that the camp has no fences, just 3 huts on the border and the kitchen and lapas in the middel.

You couldn't see directly out of the lapa, as there was a bamboo slide in front of it so predators could just walk in. You had to exite either left or right.

I picked up all my goodies and said goodnight to everyone, my brother and his tagg along aswel. All was normal. My hut was to the left and when I was exitting I checked that there was nothing to my right first, attacking me from behind. Yet, when I turned around, there was a lion looking me straight in the eye! Teeth glaring at me and I could smell his breath! My heart skipped 12 beats and I bolted! Without touching anything aparantly I jumped over the garden sofa, the fire and into the tree by the braai!

I looked like a ghost but realized it was all a joke when I saw my brother laying on the sand with laughter! I walked into this people....



Obviously you canimagine how scary it was for me with a few drinks behind me and it being pitch dark!

Anyway, I was wide awake, sober and needed a change of pants to say the least. Didn't get any sleep for the rest of the weekend....

wow i see your fear

thanks for that maddie !